Eve's Story
by Hellmanns
Summary: Written for Original Character
1. Eve the Mysterious

Eve's Story  
  
The summer days are gone too soon  
  
You shoot the moon  
  
And miss completely   
  
She was the one he could never have. He thought she must have kept within the maze of her curls the secrets of what a man had to do to win her over; he had never been able to find a way to work himself inside her heart. He needed to be a part of her, and so every day he would wake with some new idea in his brain that this time, this day, just might prove fitting. But when he carried out his brilliant plan, he always found, his effort was no more worthy of her than it had been the day before, or the day before that, or the day before that....  
  
And now you're left to face the gloom  
  
The empty room that once smelled sweetly  
  
So he was in fact left to see the gloom; the room for her in his heart that was left vacant, because she never wanted to be there. But then, it wasn't really only one room; his whole heart, his whole being was nothing more than a house, fully furnished with everything that she ever wanted and needed, if only she would enter it.  
  
"What should I do?" he would ask his friends. "How should I....what does she want, y'know? Or does she just hate me?" After this minor outburst, he would slam his forehead into his palms and then rub his eyes violently as if to wake himself from the restless sleep in which he was ensnared. Moments later, she would walk in the door and brighten everyone's day.  
  
"Hi, boys." She would smile her starry smile and innocently move to someone's side.  
  
She flirted with Blink. What was the danger in that? When he smiled he made her feel light-hearted and fun....she needed to feel that way sometimes. Nobody really saw how much. They didn't know. They never witnessed "breakdown" Eve, "highly emotional" Eve; the Eve who wouldn't ever let the boys see her cry. In fact, she had held her tears for so long that they were all convinced she was the strongest among them. The respect she received was not given to any other girl of their acquaintance; she was their pedestal.  
  
Not that they all wanted to be with her romantically - oh, no, it was not like that. Some did, certainly, but she was on such a different level than all the others....not a chance did they have, even if they wanted desperately to act on their feelings. So what was the use? The ones who would enjoy her romantically had given up long ago.  
  
So flirting with Blink, and occasionally Jack or Bumlets, could do no harm.  
  
She was not "everyone's best friend" per se; she was rather close with Race and Itey and Jack, yes, but in fact there were some newsboys she didn't know at all.  
  
She would sit on a stool in front of the bar and let her eyes roam. Some days it seemed as if everyone was having fun....and she would watch them, wishing she could feel like they did all the time. It seemed that the entire world was having fun without her; it was as if there was a big joke going around and she was the only one left outside of it. She would shrug it off, though. At least, for now, for that moment. Chances are that the second she walked in the door of the next empty room she found, the tears would come. She couldn't understand it - she felt bad almost all of the time....except when she was with the boys, of course. They were the water sent to cool the burns in her overactive mind. Or whatever it was....was it her heart that was hurting? No, it couldn't be. She was Eve. "You're such a strong person," Race had once told her, although she couldn't ever believe it to be true. 'They don't know who I am,' she had thought that night, after weeping. And then, 'Who AM I?'  
  
But today was especially awful...she felt the pressure so much more when he was around. She turned away from society, clutching her glass. Race was there with her, drinking his usual. 'Uh oh,' he thought, smirking internally, 'she's moody.'  
  
He knew what was wrong, of course. Must be a boy, and he must be present. He took a swig and asked, "So what'sa mattah, Eve?"  
  
"Nothin, why?" she shot back. Race decided to leave this one be.  
  
"Arright, arright...ya can't hide forevah, ya know." He slunk down from the barstool, heading towards the door. Before leaving he turned back to say, "You can't hide it from him, I mean," and she was left alone again.  
  
"How the hell does he know that," she grumbled, and swallowed her last ice cube.  
  
'Look, he's right over there. C'mon, Eve, just do somethin.'  
  
'She's right over there...she's so close! Go, go now!'  
  
She frowned. "That's the last thing I need right now; something else to worry about, 'specially a boy."  
  
'You know you want it, now take it. You have a chance.'  
  
"She hates me. She must hate me." He did not want to let despair envelope him. But the future was bleak.  
  
Now the fall is here again  
  
You can't begin to give in  
  
It's all over  
  
'She's Eve...there's no chance. No chance.'  
  
'You haven't given him a chance. Not any chance at all.'  
  
When the snows come rolling through  
  
You're rolling too with some new lover  
  
Letting her inner voice take over, Eve swung her legs to the opposite side of the stool and opened herself up to the room. There he was, just as she had anticipated, and before she knew it they were locking gazes, the first gaze they had ever shared, and it took her a few seconds to break.  
  
Eve left the bar.  
  
Before he could contemplate his move she was out the door. In a mad dash she had flown, without looking at anything, from the room, and with the jingling door to bid her farewell she was running down the street, hair loose and whipping behind her, skirt clinging to her legs, shirt thin against her torso.  
  
Knowing what he had to do, Mush grabbed the forgotten cloak and followed her out into the snow. "Eve!" He ran as fast as he could to catch up with the frenzied girl. "...Eve."  
  
She stopped, midstride. She turned to face him, and realized she was panting. "W-w..." Her mouth wouldn't form the words she wanted to say...  
  
"You forgot your sweater." His hands cradled the fabric gently. Slowly reaching out to hand her the garment, he took one step towards her. She reached for it and her finger accidentally grazed his thumb.  
  
It was the first time she had ever touched him.  
  
"Thanks." Her hazel brown eyes remained on the shawl as she started to turn and walk home...but not before being grabbed by the forearm by the tall boy who was staring at her.  
  
"Eve - wait...wait," was his plea.  
  
'Now's the time.'  
  
He did not know if he had the courage to say what he needed to - what had been bottled up inside him for months now. While their heartbeats quickened, their palms became moist and their cheeks flushed. The expressions on their faces were arguably identical; it was a mixture of hopefullness, faith, apprehension, and extreme nervousness.  
  
If he wasn't so caught up in uncertainty about how she would react to what he was about to tell her, those big hazel eyes would have given him some indication. She was staring up at him adoringly; and she couldn't help it - how else would she look at him?  
  
Will you think of times you've told me  
  
That you knew the reason  
  
Why we had to each be lonely  
  
It was just the season  
  
Mush Meyers gulped noiselessly. Now was the time. "Eve, I hafta tell you somethin." His eyes began to fill. "I've been meanin to tell you fa the longest time."  
  
Eve kept her glistening gaze upon him, not blinking once.  
  
"Yaw gorgeous." He blinked. Why had he said that? That wasn't what he had meant to say at all. 'Tell her how you feel, Mush, tell her how you FEEL...'  
  
"...Thank you." She couldn't move her head. Her neck was stiff and the muscles did not respond to her commands. 'He isn't sayin this.' She marveled at the thought of what would be if the scene really were playing out in front of her. 'It isn't happenin.'  
  
"Uh - I mean....not that, it's - " His clenched fists would have killed a small animal. "I mean, that's true, o' course..." 'Ah, hell, ya dolt - ya screwed up, now get it over with.'  
  
"I think I'm in love with you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"You do?" Eve found her voice...her real voice. She was shocked at how quickly she answered. "Mush...what? Are you sure?" 'What kind of an answer is that? 'Are you sure'! Dumb, Eve, dumb...'  
  
She was almost able to smile. Her eyes filled with tears and the power of the moment overtook her in one huge sweep. She did not take her eyes away from that wonderful human being in front of her...why would she ever want to do that?  
  
"O' course I'm sure!" was that wonderful human being's answer. He allowed himself to grin; positively ear to ear; that grin was what allowed Eve to free herself and find her comfort in his arms. Sweet release.  
  
'She's huggin me...she's huggin me...she's...HUGGIN ME!' All the feelings and emotions and waves of triumph that he had ever experienced combined and melted together could not have matched the joy that came to him when Eve was hugging him. He had not anticipated this...her warmth was something that could not be equaled - not in any other girl, not in any other form, not in any other way, ever.  
  
They were each of them beside themselves with happiness.  
  
"Are you really, really serious?" She whispered against his thin shirt. Her lips found their way to his shoulder, covered only by the one layer. It was much too cold for him to be wearing nothing but that, but somehow when she pressed her lips against him it warmed him to the core.  
  
He gently held her head in his hands and lifted it off him so that he could have the pleasure of gazing upon her once again. "I mean it...dear." He revelled at her delight when he said it. A stray dark blonde curl couldn't escape his purposeful fingers as he tucked it safely into that pocket behind her ear. The finger travelled the length of Eve's face, delicately brushing its surface until it found its home under her chin. Guiding it to the side, the boy mustered enough courage to move into his first kiss, and with that he was lightly pressing his lips against hers, lingering for as long as the girl wanted. Eve pulled away, breathless and in paralyzing shock.  
  
How many times had she heard the saying "It's too good to be true"?  
  
But what did it matter? The meaning would never be a mystery to her again. She was nestled in the all-enveloping embrace. Eve was safe, and all was right with the world. 


	2. She wants to live

"Eve's hurt."  
  
The honey brown-haired almost-man was not to the point where the full impact had hit him yet; ignorance was replacing fear and acknowledgement of the present situation was nowhere to be found. He was merely respecting his responsibility of informing Mush of his girlfriend's present state. There was no trembling, nor shortness of breath, nor clogging of the throat. There was more excitement in his system even than sadness upon relaying the news to his friend.  
  
But Mush's face drained the adrenaline from his body. 'Stupid!' He could have kicked himself for the emotions taking that long to emerge. He had seen Eve. She did not look good.  
  
He was not feeling very much like a leader now. When change happened, when something evolved, when there was a turn-over or a shift of some kind, he always found a way to control it. It was not so much that he could bend things to his will, but the changes of the past had never been so complete or irrevocable so as not to allow some compromise to be made between the change and himself. And never had the change affected so many so deeply.  
  
Mush didn't say a word; his instincts stayed true and with no knowledge but the fact that his loved one was in need, he began running.  
  
"She's at the lodge." Jack was almost out of earshot and Mush didn't need the information anyway. They shared one heart; how could he not know where the other half of him lay?  
  
And lay she did. When Mush burst through the door he was not at all ready to behold her pale skin, her quivering limbs. She was shaking..  
  
A moment later the hat was off his head and he was stumbling, completely out of control of his movements, towards her. He knelt next to Eve who was spread across the blue quilt on the sickbed.  
  
He had never seen her like this. For the past few months it had all been rosy-cheeked brilliance and violent-scented sweetness for the two. No words could be spoken or written that would allow one to visualize the portrait of loveliness they made when together. He wouldn't have been able to describe the feelings she aroused in him, nor the childlike innocence which floated about even in the musty air during their intimacies. He wouldn't have been able to describe them to you no matter how hard his mind would work or his heart would race, faster every minute with an unfailing passion that he knew was there to stay.  
  
Eve was there to stay with him..they were there to stay. An evil little chant sing-songed itself silly in his mind. "What happens when there's something in the way?"  
  
What happened to the wide-eyed innocence of his beloved? What eyes were these that, instead of looking up at him now with loving wonder, were closed with a lack of expression he found terrifying?  
  
Unable. He was unable to control himself, and reaching for her hand he smothered it with kisses. Her face was so pale and thin that he feared what would happen if he did the same to it.  
  
All who had been nursing her fled the room, still in shock. It had all happened so quickly.  
  
Eve with her lovely hair surrounding her, all coming loose and wild from the evening's raucous, recognized the touch of his lips immediately. Moaning quietly, she lifted her heavy eyelids. At the sight of his face she managed a small smile. "Hi," she began hoarsely.  
  
There was no response, only a large swallow that was a brave attempt to extinguish the restrictive lump in the boy's throat.  
  
She just kept smiling. "I was coming home from Medda's," she began, not taking her eyes off him. "There were some rough guys."  
  
A darkness in Mush's heart came out of hiding, and as she watched his face become wrought with worry her heart skipped a beat.  
  
"What did they do to you." The whisper barely escaped his lips and he grasped her had all the more tightly.  
  
"Nothing," she said, sighing from the pain. "It was an accident. They had guns, and - ...well, I got shot."  
  
'How is she not crying?' Angry tears stung his own eyes. 'How can she tell me this?'  
  
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." She smiled down on him and suddenly it hit her. She sniffled and took her other hand, which had been resting on the bloody blanket covering her wounded stomach, and touched his face.  
  
'I'll never see him again,' she thought.  
  
"You know," her breath came more jerkily now, "there's this - song." She paused and watched a tear squeeze out from his eye. "I've always wanted to sing it, but I never had a reason to."  
  
'What is she talking about...?'  
  
He wasn't thinking clearly. Turning from the girl and looking around the room, he asked rather loudly, "Where did everybody go?"  
  
"Oh, baby..." she moved her hand up and down his cheek. "There's nothing they can do for me now." And with that, Eve began to sing.  
  
A million stars light this beautiful night  
  
This is not a night to die  
  
Let me sing and dance beneath the sky  
  
I have such love to give, to give  
  
I want a chance to live  
  
Mush's eyes darted, touching all over her. "Eve - stop.."  
  
Live for the one I love  
  
Love as no one has loved  
  
Give, asking nothing in return  
  
Free  
  
Free to find my way  
  
Free to have my say  
  
Free to see the day  
  
"Stop it, babydoll, stop it!!"  
  
Be like I used to be  
  
Like a wild bird free  
  
With all of life in me  
  
Live for the one I love  
  
Love as no one has loved  
  
Give, asking nothing in return  
  
"But you are alive!!" Much as Eve suspected, Mush was not in control of his actions or thoughts. They were spewing out of him like a gunman's bullets. Although she felt the pain of seeing her lover react this way infinitely more intensely than the pain of her bleeding insides, nothing would stop Eve from relaying this to him. Once again, she wore a smile. "Listen to me, Mush." Their eyes locked, and this was the moment. The moment of truth, when all the fears and doubts and fantasies surfaced and bound themselves to one another in both of their souls.  
  
Though this world tears us apart  
  
We're still together in my heart  
  
I want the world to hear my cry  
  
And even if I have to die..  
  
"But I don't want you to die!" They boy, who was now a man because he had loved her, released his cry of anguish. Eve stopped singing.  
  
"Shh, Mush...shh..." she stroked his hair as best she could, and cradled his face which was now buried in her bed covers. A pool of salt water from his overflowing eyelids had accumulated there. "I don't want to die either." What would become of him? What would become of her? 'No, no thoughts like that now.'  
  
She struggled to lift his heavy head. "Love will not die," she proclaimed intensely, prophetically. "Love will change the world."  
  
"I don't care, I don't care about anything! I - I j-just want you!" He desperately pressed his head against her chest, still weeping with madness and grief. "Oh, Eve..good God, Eve!" His hands found their way to her waist and he grabbed her and held her until the blood from her open wound had seeped through the blankets onto his clothes and skin. "Babydoll.." he whispered, his voice trembling.  
  
"Mush, it's - it's - " She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. If she had been able to throw her arms around him, she would have done so with all the strength she had left, and calm him and tell him it was alright. But she couldn't tell him that; nothing was alright, and it wasn't going to be alright either. She couldn't hide from it any longer. She wanted to live.  
  
"'You're such a strong person.'" A friend's words came back to her, here, at this hour when she needed them the most. 'Be brave, now. Go on - be brave for Mush.'  
  
And with that, Eve of the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House looked straight at her love, lifted her head to the ceiling, and delivered her final performance.  
  
Live!  
  
For the one I love  
  
Love  
  
As no one has loved!  
  
Give  
  
Asking nothing in return..  
  
Eve's legacy lived on in the ones she loved. But the one she loved the most would not live for ten days after Eve herself had passed on from this world.  
  
There is such a thing as death from a broken heart. Some say it was lung failure; others say starvation and malnourishment; but we know, don't we? We know, we believe, that Mush Meyers could not bear a world in which his one true love was not. After all - would not the most sensible and logical of us agree? - one cannot live with only half a heart. 


End file.
